Forces trained in Britain’s dirty war in Northern Ireland involved in de Menezes killing

The Guardian reported August 4 that “a new army special forces regiment was involved in the operation” that resulted in de Menezes being killed with eight bullets, seven to the head, in a London subway carriage on July 22.

Whitehall sources had confirmed, the newspaper continued, that the “Special Reconnaissance Regiment, set up in April to help combat international terrorism, was deployed in the surveillance operation” that led to the innocent electrician’s death.

The report continued that the unit, “modelled on an undercover unit that operated in Northern Ireland, were engaged in ‘low level intelligence behind the scenes’ when the Brazilian was shot.

“There was ‘no direct military involvement in the shooting’, the sources added.”

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced the formation of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) on April 5. In a written statement to Parliament he said that the unit, which would become operational the following day, was in line with the “Strategic Defence Review (SDR) New Chapter published in July 2002 [which] stated that we planned to enhance and build upon the capabilities of UK Special Forces.”

The SRR “has been formed to meet a growing worldwide demand for special reconnaissance capability,” Hoon’s statement continued.

“[T]his regiment will provide improved support to expeditionary operations overseas and form part of the Defence contribution to the Government’s comprehensive strategy to counter international terrorism. The SRR will bring together personnel from existing capabilities and become the means of the further development of the capability. Due to the specialist nature of the unit, it will come under the command of the Director Special Forces and be a part of the UK Special Forces group.”

The Scotsman, April 6, reported, “The Special Reconnaissance Regiment is expected to play a key role in hunting down insurgents in Iraq and in the forthcoming UK-led operation against al-Qaeda remnants—including Osama bin Laden—in Afghanistan.

“Members will be expected to infiltrate terrorist organisations and identify targets to be attacked by other units.”

It continued, “Once SRR surveillance teams have identified human targets, other units will then eliminate them. It is understood that the new regiment will be based alongside the SAS at Stirling Lines barracks, near Hereford.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/mene-a08.shtml